Tips from the trenches…

July 2018

The NatHERS accredited software tools assume that occupants use the windows in the house when the conditions warrant it, but if people are too concerned for their security to open windows, they won’t do this. The end result is that the house won’t be ventilated and cooled in the way that should be possible based on the design of the house. If a house is going to achieve its rated thermal performance, all the doors and windows that are needed for cross ventilation but likely to be subject to unauthorised entry need to be provided with security screens.

The same is true for insect screens on all windows and doors. Occupants won’t open doors and windows in summer if it means that flies, mosquitoes and other troublesome insects will get into the house, so all windows and doors that are needed for cross-ventilation should have insect proof screens.

It is often helpful to recommend the use of security and insect screens and explain their importance to clients.

June 2018

AccuRate users have the opportunity to increase their production time which will make them more competitive in the energy rating market.

This is done by adding a Graphic interface to the AccuRate software. Graphic interface is a customised software for the NatHERS thermal comfort modelling environment and brings the power and speed of BIM to all Energy Assessors that use the AccuRate Sustainability software. The friendly BIM interface of FINE4Rate allows the assessor to spend time, a fraction of the otherwise required, to thermally engineer dwellings. This alleviates the need to spend endless hours on data entry.

FINE4Rate is the only BIM Powered Software that provides the Energy Assessor with a true 2D-3D drawing environment that is using DWG as its native file format.The Assessor can import IFC files of the building 3D model produced by the building designer directly into the traditional AccuRate Sustainability fields.

Potentially FINE 4Rate users could be productive from day one. Therefore, getting up to speed is very quick and also productivity when designing is greatly improved.

April 2018

Before you start your rating, examine the dwelling documentation and set the element defaults to match the documentation.

Whenever you create a new element, AccuRate will enter these default dimensions and properties.

If you do not set the defaults to match the dwelling, you will have to edit each time you enter a new element.

Setting defaults will therefore save you a lot of time.

March 2018

The AccuRate Defaults tab accessed under the Configure menu then AccuRate Defaults, sets the default actions for AccuRate.

While it may seem tempting to check the tick box to automatically backup the project file at regular intervals, the current version of AccuRate has a bug that can cause a crash if you happen to save when an automated backup is occurring at the same time.

Until the bug is resolved, it is recommended that you do not use the automated backup function.